Administrative Cost Savings Is No Myth

Since November 4th, interest in health reform proposals has understandably intensified.  I like to flatter myself that this blog might make a small contribution.  But I do have a day job and so the horn I blow here only has one note; if we simplify the system we can find the money we need to cover the people without health insurance and increase product satisfaction among all stakeholders.  

I am not a policy wonk who views the health care system wonderfully distilled through the glorious abstraction of statistics; nor am I encumbered by practical politics.   I view the system from the bottom looking up.  I have a stake in the present system, but that stake is poorly represented in these musings.  I am a gatekeeper to the health care maze.  In my ideal world there would be far less need for the work I am doing.

I know from daily encounters just how daunting that maze is for people needing care.  I tend to demonize piece rate physicians who are too quick to deny care rather than trust the maze.

So when I read others who write about health care reform I look for my theme.  On Sunday, November 23, 2008, the Washington Post published an opinion piece by Shannon Brownlee and Ezekiel Emanuel, 5 Myths About Our Ailing Health-Care System.  The authors are right on target with four of the five myths that they debunk.  They drive home the point that we are paying a lot of money for our health care, that we are paying a lot of money for not particularly good health care, that we really are paying the price through premiums, taxes, and lost wages, and that Americans are ready for a change.

I take issue with myth #3 – we would save a lot of money if we could cut the administrative waste of private insurance.  The authors don’t think much of that notion.  Since administrative complexity, and consequently costs, is my central theme, I need to take issue with the authors on this one.